


outside

by INMH



Series: hc_bingo fanfiction fills 2019 [35]
Category: inFAMOUS: Second Son
Genre: Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Ostracized From Society, Strong Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-12-07 19:13:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20980958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/INMH/pseuds/INMH
Summary: Delsin’s pretty good at keeping quiet when he wants to.





	outside

Reggie worries about a lot of things.  
  
First and foremost among them being Delsin.  
  
How can he _not?_ Even before all of this Conduit business had gone down Reggie had been convinced that he was going to start growing gray hairs any day now from Delsin’s tagging and other antics. Aside from the obvious law-breaking (followed by the humiliation of having to, you know, _arrest his own brother_), Delsin had a tendency to find high, visible places to tag- and Reggie has had actual nightmares of Delsin making one wrong step and breaking his neck in the ensuing fall.  
  
As it is, there are no gray hairs yet- just a couple mouth-guards over the years to stop him from grinding his teeth into dust while he sleeps.  
  
Now that they’re in Seattle, Reggie’s worries are twofold: Delsin is a Conduit in a city full of DUP agents that genuinely don’t get that Delsin is a pest at worse, not an actual _danger _like the Bioterrorists are. Reggie does not like to think of what might happen if the DUP actually manages to get a hold of Delsin or- God forbid- overpower and kill him in a fight.  
  
Reggie is not losing his brother.  
  
Not now, not like this.  
  
So he breaks his back trying to figure things out so they can get Augustine’s powers and go _home_ to save the tribe. And hopefully, maybe this whole nightmare might convince Delsin to engage in a bit more discretion and subtlety from now on. But Reggie’s not holding his breath.  
  
Right now, he can’t- this might be the longest ladder he’s ever climbed, and _damn it_, he needs to have a talk with Delsin about finding smaller buildings to wait on.  
  
Reggie hauls himself up the ladder and onto the rooftop, catching sight of Delsin lying on his back on some sort of maintenance box before bending over, wheezing. He braced his hands on his knees, the rest of his body sagging with relief.  
_  
Damn, I’m getting old._  
  
“Damn, you’re getting old.”  
  
Unable to talk, Reggie flips his little brother off, accompanying the gesture with a withering expression.  
  
“_Really_ old. Like, you should probably be using a walker.”  
  
“Stop- climbing- high,” Reggie pants as aggressively as he can.  
  
Delsin snorts, but doesn’t say anything else.  
  
Eventually Reggie straightens up and hobbles over. “Alright,” he sighs. “I think we…” He pauses, eyeing Delsin warily. “What’s up?”  
  
Delsin sniffs. “Nothing.”  
  
A beat. “Well _that’s_ a lie.”  
  
Delsin looks… off. He’s not someone who does things by halves (except for homework, or chores, or eating anything that doesn’t have a significant amount of sugar in it), and so when he’s happy, he’s really happy; when he’s angry, he’s really angry; and when he’s sad, he’s really sad.  
  
And Reggie’s detecting _sad_ right now.  
  
“What happened?” He asks again, leaning against the box Delsin’s lying on and relaxing; his back is killing him (alright, _alright_, so he _might_ be getting old).  
  
“Nothing happened,” Delsin grunts. “Who cares?”  
  
“I care,” Reggie sighs. “You alright? You hurt?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Then what is it? Your little, uh… Conduit-buddies alright?” Reggie’s still wary about Fetch and Eugene, despite Delsin vouching for them.  
  
“They’re fine.”  
  
“Are we gonna play Twenty Questions, Del? Because I don’t want to play Twenty Questions. I’m too _old_ and tired for that.”  
  
Delsin snickers, but doesn’t respond for a moment. Reggie is prepared to concede that his little brother just isn’t going to talk; for all his lack of impulse control, Delsin’s good at keeping his mouth shut when he wants to. But then he finally says, “So, I did the smoke thing and came out of a vent at street-level, yeah? And it was like, _oops_, turns out there was this little kid sitting on a bench there, and he totally freaked out and started crying for his mom and screaming that I was a monster. So I went back up the vent and fucked off before the DUP could show up.”  
  
Silence.  
  
It had all come out in a pretty wild rush, and so Reggie has to backtrack and process the information before he can think through it clearly. “Uh- Okay, I- So you’re okay? You’re not hurt?”  
  
Delsin makes a big show of rolling his eyes. “No, Reggie, the five year-old kid didn’t assault me.”  
  
“So what’s the problem?”  
  
Delsin rolls onto his side, staring at Reggie strangely. “Reggie, I scared the shit out of a _five year-old._ He thought I was a monster and starting crying like he was terrified of me. Who the hell wants to scare a five year-old, except for a total asshole?”  
  
Reggie winces, looking away for a moment.  
  
Delsin can be an absolute _pain_ in the ass, the neck, the back, the head- _total_ pain all over. But the most aggravating part of it all is that Reggie knows that Delsin is a good person. He is mischievous, but he is not mean- he does irritating things, but he has never, to date, harmed another person (well, at least not unprovoked); and he would never, ever, intentionally scare a small child. Not _seriously_, anyways- but there is a big gap in severity between jumping out of a trashcan and yelling ‘boo!’ and frightening someone to the point of hysterical sobbing.  
  
Most people are afraid of Bioterrorists- of _Conduits_. The DUP has gone into overtime convincing the public that they are all a bunch of wild, crazy monsters, and while Reggie can’t say he _completely_ disagrees with it (Brooke Augustine herself is a perfect example of a sadistic psychopath), Delsin is obviously not like that. Reggie knows that better than anyone.  
  
He turns back to Delsin. “That sucks, little brother.”  
  
Delsin’s lying back again, staring at the sky. “I’m not a monster.”  
  
“I know you’re not.”  
  
“No, you just think Conduits are, and I’m a Conduit. Wasn’t great at math in school, Reggie, but I can do addition just fine.”  
  
“I don’t-” Reggie stops. Delsin’s not wrong- it’s not like Reggie’s hidden his wariness about the other Conduits- but it should be fairly obvious that even if the general population is afraid of Bioterrorists, Reggie is not now nor will he ever _be_ afraid of Delsin. “I don’t think you’re a monster. You’re not a monster.”  
  
Delsin snorts again.  
  
“Seriously, Del. You act like a spray-paint-breathing gremlin most days, but not an actual monster.”  
  
“You’re just saying that because you’re my brother,” Delsin grunts.  
  
“Exactly: If you were a monster, I would know by now. Thankfully, you’re just a run-of-the-mill pain in the ass little brother who _happens_ to have the ability to absorb other Conduits’ powers.” Reggie grabs him by the leg and yanks it. “Now get up, we have things to do.”  
  
Delsin rolls his eyes again, but sits up to let his legs dangle over the edge of the box, eyebrows cocked. “What’d you find, Reggie?”  
  
Reggie is relieved to see some of the sadness fade, to see Delsin look a little more like himself.  
  
Reggie is not losing his brother.  
  
Not now, not like this.  
  
Not _ever._  
  
-End


End file.
